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Summary List of stories Phase I Day: Honor, Duty, And Family << chapter 23 Chapter 24 of 75 Tarnishing Sunlight chapter 25 >> << previous scene Scene 1 of 2 next scene >> Location Participants Time Summary Prologue | Phase I | Phase II | Epilogue 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 Text The day was restful: Twilight Sparkle headed into Ponyville, but in the evening flew back to the cottage with Scarlet Sage to spend the night with them. She was proud to show off what Spike had made for her, with the help of the Artificer: a beautiful, crystalline fountain pen enchanted to never run out of ink. "Now all you need is a notebook with an infinite amount of pages, and you might just be able to make a schedule for an entire month instead of a week." Scrivener said mildly, and Twilight flicked his nose firmly with the pen even as she sat down beside him before slipping it aside into one of her saddlebags. Scrivener grumbled and rubbed absently at his face, then he leaned back and gazed around the room: Scarlet Sage was resting on a cushion beside Luna, smiling at her and watching as her mother played industriously with Antares and his toy blocks, helping him build towers and odd little structures out of the multicolored wooden shapes, and Discombobulation was resting against the divider, his comfortable aquarium on the countertop above, arranged by now into what looked like a miniature apartment with glass walls. It was filled with dollhouse furniture and a few objects that Greece had been more than willing to make, Cowlick even lending a hoof here and there for the odd little miniatures with a grin. It was perhaps strange that a chaos being of Ginnungagap had decided his permanent residence would be in what was essentially a modified tank meant for small fish, but he had grown familiar and comfortable inside it, and changing his size was no problem for the chimerical creature and his multitude of powers. But a lot of his time was spent outside it around the cottage, or sometimes wandering to Ponyville, sometimes even popping up here and there throughout anywhere else in Equestria that drew his attention. But whatever else he was, he was a social creature: he liked being around ponies, little as he also liked to admit it. He currently had Gymbr sitting on his shoulder, tilted as if it was speaking into one of his ears, and Twilight studied him curiously as he seemed to nod every so often. Then the Draconequus slowly turned his gaze towards her, and Twilight blushed a little before Discombobulation intoned: "Mr. Slappy doesn't like you. Better watch out, Twilight Sparkle." Scrivener rolled his eyes as Twilight apprehensively leaned away... and then the Draconequus smiled wryly. "Oh, as if I was being serious. You're such a silly." He paused meditatively, then glanced over at Gymbr and nodded. "I agree. She is fine just the way she is. It would be a shame indeed to change her at all... but my odd friend here says that you were changed once upon a time, Twilight Sparkle. You were as patchwork as I was, but with darkness sizzling through your mind, and you outlived all your friends except for one, who was really two... but you also died before them all too, you see. Literally and metaphorically: all the same, you died to live. That's the only part I approve of in the story, by the way, everything else is pretty nasty. And strictly just the part that makes no sense, not the reasons behind it, not what it led up to." Discombobulation hugged himself moodily before he said suddenly, glancing across at Luna: "Sleipnir is quite the charmer, I hear. But... a little red bird... told me once that his life of pleasure is not always lived in leisure. They also may have mentioned he's drawn to things that hurt him, which explains the whole romantic comedy aspect and why he's trading letters with Miss Cactus in town." "Miss Cactus. I like this. But tell me, Bob, is this reference clever or stolen?" Luna asked curiously over her shoulder, and Discombobulation looked offended as he touched his own chest. "Well, we may not all be as perfect and adept as Luna at stealing things and making them our own-" "Yes, especially when they come through reality to punch us in our collective faces. That's usually a bad sign." Scrivener said drolly, and Discombobulation slowly turned a sour look on him before he rose a hand and snapped his fingers, and Luna winced as Scrivener Blooms seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke, replaced by a tall, rounded green cactus. "And this is why we don't interrupt teacher when he's talking." Discombobulation said mildly, and then he hopped up to his feet and calmly walked over to the large cactus, as Luna glowered and Twilight awkwardly slid a bit away from the spiny plant. "Now, as I was saying. It's a very fitting metaphor. You see, it's all sharp and gross and has bad skin on the outside. And bad hair. Well, this cactus doesn't have bad hair but Pinkamena does. I mean, have you ever seen her eat? It hangs right in front of her face, dipping in everything, and the crazed half-demon doesn't even seem to care when she's chewing on her own mane! I don't really understand it at all myself, all things considered, and-" All eyes glared at him, even Antares, and then the toddler burbled and flailed grouchily. "Gymbr!" Discombobulation glanced at the doll on his shoulder, then he sighed tiredly and picked it up, hugging it moodily against his own chest for a moment, but when Antares flailed his hooves at him and Luna glared pointedly at the Draconequus, the chimerical creature grumbled and moodily tossed the doll to the toddler. It landed in front of him, and as Antares snatched it hurriedly up, the chimerical creature continued wryly: "As I was saying before my friend was once more abducted by needy-clingy-poopy-pants, Pinkamena is horrible on the outside." Then he paused and reached down, grasping one of the larger spikes and twisting it like a handle to swing the cactus open, revealing a cramped, staring Scrivener Blooms stuck inside the sludgy, hollow interior of the plant, and Luna half-glared, half-giggled as Discombobulation as he remarked mildly: "But inside her... much deeper than this cactus, I expect, and probably smaller than Luna, too... is something soft and pliant. And sensitive. And inside that is a serial killer. And inside that, probably the faces of his victims, because really, who doesn't love freshly-cooked faces?" With that, Discombobulation slapped the side of the cactus, and it puffed out of existence, sending Scrivener spilling onto his back with a wheeze of frustration. He sat slowly up, shaking his head briskly out, and Discombobulation leaned over him and said kindly: "And that, my friend, is why you never mess with a comedian." "Because you'll stuff me in a plant?" Scrivener said dryly, looking grouchily up at the chimerical creature, and the Draconequus sniffed disdainfully at this. "No, because we know all the ways to make you laugh, so we know how to turn that around on its head." Discombobulation replied seriously, and then his body slowly pirouetted on the spot as his head and neck remained facing Scrivener Blooms, like an action figure wrung by some invisible, giant child. "Also when our inner jerk comes out, it can be much worse than our inner child. Although personally, my inner child is also my inner jerk. Yesterday he tried to push me over in the sandbox, can you believe that?" "Did thou pummel him?" Luna asked curiously, and the Draconequus favored her with a flat look, but Luna only huffed and looked pointedly at the Draconequus in return. "'Tis no crime to pummel the child if it is thyself!" "You're such a good parental figure." Discombobulation said wryly, and then he winced when Luna glared at him and stomped forwards, wincing a little. "I mean, you really are an admirable mother! If my mother had been more like you I would have been so much more motivated in life, and I would have been... an accountant, or followed my secret dream that no one can ever know about." Twilight leaned forwards at this despite herself, and Luna and Scrivener traded looks as Scarlet Sage asked finally: "What are you going to do when the day comes when we don't take the bait to your obvious jokes?" "Oh, that will never happen." Discombobulation scoffed, flicking his wrist dismissively as he looked mildly around at them all. "Look at you all, ponies. You're all begging to know what my secret dream job was with your eyes, even though you know the chances of me honestly telling you – or even having a secret dream, much less a mother – are all infinitesimal. In some other world, I'm sure you're all clucking chickens, but I'm still a Draconequus, and your buck-buck-bucking has as much meaning to me there as it does here." "Luna wouldn't be a chicken. She'd be a cockatrice." Scrivener said mildly, and the Draconequus began to open his mouth, then glowered at Luna when she covered her muzzle and giggled stupidly as Scrivener sighed tiredly, glaring over at her. "Are you ever going to grow up?" "Thou should all feel fortunate I am not nearly as bad as Sleipnir." Luna retorted in response to this, raising her head proudly. "My beloved brother would drive big sister absolutely furious some days by misinterpreting every little thing she said or suggested. Sleipnir was often even worse than demons when it came to taking orders literally, particularly when he was cranky." Scrivener rolled his eyes at this, and then Luna huffed a little before she frowned a bit as her horn gave a faint reverberation. A moment later, Twilight's did as well, the violet mare wincing and looking up as Scrivener frowned over at the starry-maned winged unicorn. Discombobulation looked curiously at the ponies, then down at Antares as the baby hugged Gymbr close, looking confused before he said quietly: "Tia." "Celestia? Sending out a signal?" Luna grimaced a little at this, standing quickly up before she glanced over at Discombobulation, who rubbed at his forehead and looked back and forth. "Can thou not feel it?" "Not at all. Perhaps she means to alert only you two... or perhaps this is a warning being sent out to all unicorns. But if it is the latter, I do not imagine that can be anything good at all..." Discombobulation said slowly, and then the Draconequus sighed when Luna gave him an imploring look. "Don't even bother to ask, Scrivener Blooms. I'm on my way, from misery to happiness today. Also probably pain." With that, he snapped his fingers and vanished from the spot, and Luna grimaced a bit before she turned her eyes towards Scarlet Sage, saying quietly: "Please stay here and look after Antares Mīrus, daughter. Keep him calm and safe." Scarlet Sage nodded worriedly, even as Antares whimpered and reached up to rub nervously at his horn, and Scrivener grimaced a bit before Twilight glanced up and murmured: "That pulse... it's close by, isn't it, Luna? But Celestia wasn't supposed to be back from the Temple of the Sun for at least another day... and why..." "I do not know, but I intend to find out. Come, let us hurry." Luna said quietly, and she hesitated only a moment to glance over her shoulder at Antares, promising quietly as Scrivener and Twilight both ran ahead: "We shall return as soon as possible." "Mommy!" Antares cried, and he tried to scramble forwards... but Scarlet Sage caught him, hugging him fiercely back against her body as the foal trembled and tried to push away from his sister as Luna turned and hurried down the hall. "Daddy!" It killed Luna inside to leave him so quickly, but something felt wrong as she joined Scrivener Blooms and Twilight Sparkle outside before flicking her horn firmly, and Scrivy grimaced as leathery wings tore out of his back, flexing and gritting his teeth at the speed and pain of the polymorph before Luna said sharply: "There is no time to waste. The pulse strengthens, either Celestia draws closer to us or she is becoming more desperate!" The two others nodded, leaping into the air alongside Luna as the winged unicorn felt a terrible instinct rising in her body, propelling herself firmly in the direction the pulse was coming from, Twilight gritting her own teeth: the closer they drew, the stronger the pulse became... before suddenly, it whiffed completely out, and the eyes of the two winged unicorns widened as Scrivener gritted his teeth, Luna whispering: "No, no, no... big sister, I am coming, we are coming... please, be okay..." They shot over the Everfree Forest, flying as hard and fast as they could... and every now and then, some faint signal would pulse in Twilight and Luna's horns, weak and filled with a mix of pain and desperation, driving them to push harder. And worse, as they flew onwards, Scrivener began to feel a strange pressure building in his own mind: at first, he thought it was runoff from Luna, but as they drew closer to whatever it was, he realized all too well that it was something different from the signal that Luna and Twilight were receiving... And then, as they cleared a rise and let themselves begin to slope into a wide, deep valley beyond, the three ponies stared in horror at the sight that awaited them. The once-lush, grassy vale had been devastated by rips, tears and explosions, and, standing in a river that was beginning to turn a strange silver, her body covered in wounds and injuries, was Celestia. Her guards had been slaughtered, and Discombobulation was standing in the knee-deep water beside her, teeth grit as he held his hands in the air and Celestia's horn sputtered weakly. A dark cyclone of clouds spun slowly through the air above them, leaving the two in the eye of a small but vicious monsoon... but all around this, skittering silently around the whirling barrier of rain, were countless silvery drones. "Clockwork World... have they begun their attack?" whispered Luna, staring in horror at the gathered army: there had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of silvery, shapeshifting drones, and there was no telling how many had already been destroyed. Here and there amongst the soldiers, they could see those awful, screaming monstrosities that emitted the waves of anti-magic as well, explaining why the pulse had been fading in and out, and Luna cursed before ordering sharply as she began to look up: "The clouds, we must bring a storm to-" And then she heard the scream, and she looked up in shock before an enormous metallic bird lashed past the three ponies as they struggled to scatter out of the way, Scrivener cursing as a razor-sharp wing ripped across his features and Luna releasing a howl of pain as talons like knives lashed across her back, sending up a thick burst of blood. Then both Scrivener and Luna turned, snarling in pain as the same wounds formed across their bodies and Twilight gritted her teeth, looking hurriedly around and realizing with a terrible twist of fear that there were more of the enormous birds patrolling through the clear blue skies as she let herself draw a bit away from the paired ponies. The bird that had attacked them hovered for a moment, flapping wings made up of steel feathers layered like blades, the metal flexing like unnatural flesh. It had a single staring eye of crystal above a barbed beak, and its body was made of multicolored gemstone. Electricity bounced dazzlingly back and forth inside the confines of this awful glassy cage as its two enormous talons clawed at the air, and then it leaned forwards with a shriek before Scrivener's eyes widened as a bolt of memories not his own tore through his mind. "Luna, wait!" he shouted, but too late, as Luna shot forwards to intercept the creature, ducking beneath a bite of its beak to slash her horn across its body... and the bird golem exploded in a tremendous blast of lightning and anti-magic, Luna howling in agony and Scrivener Blooms arching his back in pain as his wings exploded into dust and ash, Twilight Sparkle shrieking as the edge of the explosion caught her and sent her reeling. Luna and Scrivener both dropped like stones from the sky, however, caught by the full force of the explosion, and she looked down with horror as they both dropped straight towards the crowd of shapeshifters below. Anti-magic surged over Twilight's horn and body, stopping her from doing anything at all to save them, making it hard for her to even hover in the air as Drones looked slowly up as Luna and Scrivener fell towards them, before beginning to raise their claws, and limbs that transformed into terrible, horrible weapons... but a moment later, a large, high-walled plastic slide appeared beneath the two, jarring them back into consciousness as they rolled violently down the length of it and through a swirling green vortex to be vomited out a matching portal next to Discombobulation, both ponies crashing painfully into the river as Discombobulation muttered: "I always was good at chutes and ladders. Congratulations, you owe your lives to a board game." The portals burst out existence, and above, Twilight Sparkle hurriedly shook herself off before looking back and forth anxiously, breathing hard as the anti-magic shocks faded from her body. The metallic birds were circling dangerously, the army of Drones below was milling forwards, she could see that the cyclonic storm surrounding the group at the center of the ravine was already beginning to die out... and the winged unicorn clenched her eyes shut, concentrating hard before she flicked her horn upwards, and she vanished in a burst of violet light before reappearing next to Celestia, who was carefully helping Luna and Scrivener to their hooves. She was breathing hard, smiling faintly even in spite of the wounds on her body, her mane sparking but the color gone from both it and her tail as the glow around her horn faded completely. Twilight trembled, staring at the splatters of blood that covered Celestia and barely able to believe her eyes before Discombobulation clenched his eyes shut as an awful wailing screamed up from some horrendous monstrosity that had drawn in close, and Luna, Twilight, and Celestia all clenched their eyes shut with cries of pain before the chaos entity rasped: "You flunked the audition." He flicked a hand towards the creature, and a large chunk of the black stormcloud shot down like a rocket, smacking into the monstrosity Scrivener Blooms recognized as a mockingly-named 'Hobby Horse.' The piece of stormcloud exploded like a water balloon, covering the creature in liquid, and its wails rose in volume for a moment as the water ate into it like acid before it exploded in a tremendous blast of sound and shrapnel, blowing apart the Drones around it. Then the chaos entity wheezed, slumping forwards as he muttered: "I'm out of ammo here. Does anyone know any cheat codes? I think this must be our final doom, but up, down, left, right, triangle, circle, square, X, etcetera isn't giving me god mode, and I've been trying my damnedest for the last thirty minutes to remember any of the other codes" "Celestia, I am so sorry we did not arrive sooner." Luna whispered, and she shivered as she looked down at the silvery water, trembling a little as she carefully hauled herself back to her hooves before snarling at the Drones as a tremble of fury ran through her body, eyes glowing as she felt Nightmare Moon twist viciously inside her, and for the first time in a long while, she welcomed it. "But oh, we'll teach these mockeries of nature to scream before they die..." Celestia only breathed hard in and out, then she closed her eyes and whispered: "No, I am sorry, little sister. I did not... think their numbers were so great. So many of them have died in this river that... it is beginning to pollute the water itself. Like fire, drowned in lumber... I... I am sorry. I should not have called you." "No, we wouldn't have things... any other way. I just wish... you at least had saved yourself, Twilight." Scrivener looked over at her silently, but Twilight trembled and rose her head courageously with only a faint smile in response. It told him everything he needed to know, and he closed his eyes before mouthing three silent words, then gritting his teeth and turning his head forwards to stare fearlessly out at certain death. The ponies and Draconequus looking back and forth as the protective curtain of rainfall began to slow, and the Drones slowly began to edge forwards, Hobby Horses clanking loudly and moaning their horrible cries as they began to draw within range, the ponies all looking silently up as the army closed in... And then the Drones simply halted, their soulless eyes staring as the Hobby Horses fell silent, and the ponies looked back and forth in wordless confusion as overhead, metallic bird golems shrieked, then suddenly turned and flew quickly off towards the horizon. And likewise, shapeshifters drew slowly back as the Hobby Horses slowly began to turn and rumble away, the lifeless creatures all marching slowly in the same direction as the birds had left as Luna mouthed wordlessly and Scrivener Blooms felt a strange, painful thud in his chest, before the sapphire winged unicorn shouted: "I do not understand!" But they ignored her: they ignored everything, as the enormous army simply left them, even Celestia looking dumbfounded and Discombobulation rubbing slowly at his pale chest. Twilight only shivered weakly, shrinking back a little as she looked over her shoulder for a moment, staring at the seemingly-endless cordon before her eyes were drawn forwards by a surge of terrible force. The others stared towards the horizon as well, as black lightning surged violently in all directions before forming into an enormous, dark archway that rested like a wound in reality, the Clockwork soldiers obviously headed for this as Scrivener felt agony rip through his mind at the sight of it, clenching his eyes shut as alien memories twisted through his brain before he looked up in horror as a voice whispered softly, carrying through his mind in the ghostly layer beneath his thoughts and above his subconscious: It is not time yet. Come home. Come back through the Black Mirror. This is my command. "Who are you?" Scrivener whispered, but there was only silence in return as the others looked at him, and the stallion gritted his teeth as he realized that only he had been able to hear the voice... and likely because of the corruption in his mind, as he snarled and stepped forwards, trembling. He wanted to shout, he wanted to provoke it, and part of him even wanted to run to that terrible dark rip in reality in the distance... but he forced himself to simply lower his head, breathing hard, trembling and fighting down instinct and suicidal passion as Luna stepped up worriedly beside him. And then the portal rumbled before closing suddenly and sharply, and the ponies looked back and forth at the shapeshifters that remained... but within moments, they ceased to move, their lifeless eyes dying, their bodies first fading slightly before they simply melted away into nothing but silvery liquid, leaving behind dull, faded glass cores wrapped in metal caging. For a few moments, they only stared... and then Celestia's eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed with a splash into the river; into darkness. Category:Transcript Category:Story